Apple Intelligence finally launches in China, and it's running on a rival's AI instead of Apple's own

[RandyOrton26]

China's Cyberspace Administration approved Apple Intelligence for use in the country this week, ending a wait that stretched back to the feature's original 2024 announcement. The twist is that Apple isn't using its own models to power it there, Alibaba confirmed its Qwen AI will be integrated directly into Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS for Chinese users, letting people access Qwen's text and image understanding and generation capabilities without ever leaving Apple's own interface

Baidu is also quietly involved, confirming to TechCrunch that it's separately working with Apple on Apple Intelligence features for the Chinese market, meaning Apple has effectively assembled two domestic AI partners to do in China what OpenAI and Google's Gemini already do for Apple Intelligence everywhere else. The approval came through a regulatory filing that also cleared six other on-device AI services, including Huawei's own Xiaoyi assistant and Oppo's AndesGPT, part of a broader Chinese requirement that any public facing generative AI service be registered with the state

The stakes here go well beyond one feature launch. Apple's Greater China sales hit 20.5 billion dollars last quarter, up 28 percent year over year, and the company recently reclawed its number two spot in the Chinese smartphone market on the back of shopping festival discounts. Being unable to offer Apple Intelligence in China at all put the company at a real disadvantage against Huawei and other domestic rivals already shipping their own on-device AI, so this approval removes a genuine competitive gap rather than just adding a nice to have feature

Alibaba's US listed shares jumped as much as 6 percent on the news, and Hong Kong listed shares in both Alibaba and Baidu rose as investors read the deal as a vote of confidence in Chinese AI models from one of the most demanding technology partners in the world. The arrangement also reflects a now familiar pattern in AI, foreign regulatory and political pressures increasingly determine which AI provider powers a feature in which country, with Apple running Gemini in the US, Qwen and Baidu's models in China, and presumably whatever regulators require everywhere else it operates

Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baidu | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com